Fill-in Prosecutor Elected In New Kent

Gregory Hopes Post Gets Full-time Status

November 03, 1993|By BENTLEY BOYD Daily Press

NEW KENT — C. Linwood Gregory was elected commonwealth's attorney in New Kent County Tuesday.

Gregory, who left the prosecutor's post 14 years ago, was appointed July 1 to fill the position until the election. Unofficial results showed Gregory, with 2,757 votes, beating Clay Blanton and John Jones. Blanton got 1,148 votes and Jones 278.

Gregory will fill the remaining two years of the term begun by Tom Hoover. Hoover was the county's commonwealth's attorney for 13 years before being appointed judge of the 9th District Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Gregory, 44, a New Kent native and a graduate of the College of William and Mary's law school, served one term from 1976 to 1979 before voluntarily stepping down and making way for Hoover.

The commonwealth's attorney in New Kent is a part-time job with a $36,000-a-year salary. Gregory said he would ask that the job be made full-time, but Jones and Blanton said they would not.

Though this marks the first contested race for New Kent commonwealth's attorney in two decades, the three-way race generated few sparks.

Blanton, 40, also studied law at William and Mary. He moved to New Kent 14 years ago and has built a practice through many court-appointed cases.

Jones, 42, grew up in Cleveland and received his law degree from Cleveland State University. He spent 17 months as assistant commonwealth's attorney in Richmond before going into private practice in Henrico and New Kent counties in 1991.